Basketball players of the U20 NT are aware of the importance of the jersey that they will be wearing in the European Championship U20, Division B, Group B. For this specific reason they are working with a high intensity. Their debut day in the European Championship is not very far away and that’s why the selector of the U20 NT Ilir Selmani and assistant, Ismet Ferati are doing the impossible in order for the boys to be in their top form for their debut. Both coaches are aware of the great competition of this generation, but according to Selman and Ferati it is very important to start working and that we should wait a few cycles for the big success, since this is only the beginning of a new era for the basketball of Kosovo, in terms of international competitions.
U20 NT is currently training in the “1 Tetori” hall, in Prishtina, but starting from Monday they will move to Vushtrri, in the Center for Public Safety, Education and Development. They will stay there for 10 days and afterwards will return to the capital city to continue with the training.
Ilir Selmani, U20 NT selector:
“Today is the 10th day of the training and I as a selector am very happy with the work of the players. Everything is going according to the plan; the boys are giving their best in the training, and what is more important the discipline is at the right level and is bringing a great atmosphere. I already know all of the players, since most of them play for the first clubs of the Superleague and I had the chance to see them play so it wasn’t hard for me to understand their game. On Monday, we will move to Vushtrri, where we will stay for 10 days and exercise 3 times a day, twice in the sports hall and once in the gym. Afterwards, we will return to Prishtina to exercise with the same rhythm and maybe we will travel abroad to exercise for 5 days. In our schedule, we have 2 friendly games with the U20 team of Rilski Sportist, which will take place at the end of June in Samokov, Bulgaria. We will try to play a few other friendly games in order for us to be more prepared for the European Championship.”
Ismet Ferati, assistant for the U20 NT:
“The boys are working with great seriousness. This is motivating us even more. A great work is ahead of us, but with everyone’s support I think that we will make it. These guys have played together before, but only in tournaments and now we are talking about European Championship and they are aware of that, that’s why they took the exercises very seriously from the beginning.”
Arian Mehmeti, U20 NT basketball player:
“We are very happy with the work that has been done so far. The Federation gave us the best conditions possible and now we have to give our best. The coaches are teaching us, but also motivating us. We have worked together before, so we don’t have any trouble coordinating. We promise to work with this tempo also in the days to come, because we are eager to show our best”.
Ardit Beqiri, U20 NT basketball player:
“The team atmosphere is very good. The players are supporting each other. We’ve been together for few days now and we will be together for many more. We believe that with work and commitment we will achieve great success while representing our country.”
It should be emphasized that Kosovo will compete in the European Championship U20 Division B, Group B, with Georgia, Portugal, Montenegro and Luxembourg.
Competitions of this Division will take place from 9 ‘til 19 July 2015 in Szekesfehervar, Hungary.
Kosovo’s first game is against Portugal, on July 9th.